


Naruko, Stygian Taint

by Mithera



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/F, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26403250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mithera/pseuds/Mithera
Summary: Blind female protagonist. Very harsh version of the series. The story will feature lots of additional content to provide a fresh engaging experience. Will contain Yuri with Hinata.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruko
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Orphan

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a tale about Naruko, which as most know, is a female version of Naruto. Her personality is completely different and she is also blind. The story begins when she is six years old, and will have a time leap to nine, then twelve when the series picks up. It should be noted that certain individuals will deviate in varying degrees from their original personalities through the interactions and events in this story, people can change after all. However efforts will be made to keep most in character.
> 
> *This is going to be a re-post of what is on FF.net, but I will be editing and fleshing it more while working on my other stories. Once it has been fully transferred, I probably won't be doing anymore updating there as this website is much better for a lot of reasons, but particularly editing.*

Blood trickled from her forehead and mouth— she no longer had the strength to move. Her ears were ringing and pain could be felt throughout her entire body. She was in a daze and could barely breathe now. Her small frame lay crumpled on the ground at the end of the filth ridden alley, surrounded by a semi-circle of other children. They were laughing, but she could no longer hear them, a dizzying and aching throbbing was muddling her senses.

She did not understand why this was happening, why it kept happening. The girl bore no tears however, for she had grown accustomed to their treatment. Knowing not when it had started or if it would ever end, she was lost each time it happened, and felt something in her slowly dying.

The children, having grown bored of tormenting the unresisting girl, walked off to resume their play elsewhere, making sure to be careful that no one noticed them. They didn't have to bother though, as there were only a handful of people who actually paid the young girl any heed. Most saw her as a hateful existence and felt she deserved any scorn or abuse they could muster, though the adults never outright discriminated against her, they made no effort to stop their children, who sensing their parents' enmity towards the girl, tortured her whenever they got the chance to.

The girl's kimono was stained with urine, various food items, dirt, and blood. She lay there motionless, waiting for the dizziness to pass, and her breadth to return. Her silky sunflower hair was matted with dirt and saliva. Her smooth facial features were bruised and cut with several smears of blood.

Placing her hand on the ground, she steadied herself and planting one of her straw sandaled feet before her, finally managed to stand up after a few wobbling attempts. She kept her eyes shut, for they were of no use to her anyway, since she couldn't see.

Her world was a dark haze of various forms and lines that she was able to decipher from the sounds and vibrations around her. With an expressionless face, she began walking forward out of the alley on a limp. A few people on the street were startled to see her condition, but no one made any attempt to help and many even had contemptuous expressions, as if to say 'this is what she deserves'. Even the ninjas in the village made no attempt to aid her and gave her a wide berth, though a few bore sad visages.

She made her way slowly back to the apartment building she called a home. The people that lived there were no different than the others outside, pouring their contempt onto her when they encountered her. Usually this involved knocking her down or saying a scornful remark as they passed.

It was easy for her to recognize the place, for unlike many of the other buildings in town it had a very peculiar smell, mostly reeking of sake, a pungent odor of sweat, and unwashed clothing. Walking up the wooden steps past the entrance, she had to use the rails to both support and guide herself as she made her way up to the third floor. This was typically unnecessary, as the sounds formed a fuzzy image in her mind, but she still hadn't completely recovered from the wounds she received earlier.

Arriving at the front door she fumbled with her key, dropping it a few times, before she was finally able to open it. Turning around she shut the door quietly and locked it. Her unit was plain for the most part and contained only the bare necessities: a dining table and a couple of chairs in the center, a bed next to the single double window along the back wall, a refrigerator next to small kitchen area to her right, and a small washroom in the left corner of the roughly rectangular space.

Making her way to the bathroom, she bumped into the table in the center, stumbling a couple of times. When she got there, she started to remove her filthy kimono. She took off each piece methodically and folded them carefully, laying them around the sink near the door. Most of her wounds had clotted by now, but a few minor cuts still ran freely. Turning the bath on behind her, she waited for it to fill up then got in slowly; the submerging of each of her wounds caused her to wince repeatedly. The water quickly became polluted with her blood. She was forced to drain it after scrubbing herself with soap, and used the faucet to rinse up.

Once done bathing, she washed her clothes carefully and hung them underneath the metal towel rack. Putting on her pajamas, she walked to the window, where she sat down on a chair next to the bed. The moonlight reflected dully on her pale face. A gust blew gently past her into the room, causing her to relax somewhat while easing the burning and tingling sensations throughout her body. She could sense that the streets were mostly empty now. The rustling of the wind, and the chirping of crickets filled much of the night air. It was fresh up here, unlike outside her room, and she felt comfortable despite the aches throughout her body and face.

Her gaze shifted slightly to a lone figure walking down the street. She knew who it was by the tempo and weight of the footsteps. When the approaching figure was close enough, it leapt up to the roof shingles outside her window. His scent became clear to her and she gazed at him, before speaking in a soft feminine and child-like but emotionless voice, "What is it Ojii-sama?"

The figure, who was a pale old man dressed in white and red robes, did not reply immediately. Noticing her injuries, a deeply remorseful expression fell across his face. He was well past the age now where he could feel truly angry and much to his disgrace, he had been able to do little to help the poor girl before him. Squatting down near her, he reached out and stroked the child's feathery hair affectionately, but her face remained unchanged. He hated the fact he couldn't gauge her mental state, for she had never smiled or appeared sad regardless of the circumstances. Taking his red and white square hood off, allowed the breeze to clear his thoughts.

"Is my hair still dirty Ojii-sama?" she asked innocently.

"No…", he replied in a low wizened masculine tone.

Her simple words had cut through his heart like a dagger, and he closed his eyes while bringing his other hand up to his face in anguish. What more could he do? This child bore a tremendous burden and had been living alone here for a few years now, all without complaint or sadness. It was as if she could not even feel such emotions. Her eyesight had been taken from her at birth, along with her parents and her entire clan before that.

Regardless of the measures he had put in place to protect her from the villagers— she still kept turning up like this. A guard only brought enmity on that individual along with her, and it was a duty no one volunteered for, something he had forced many to do as availability allowed. Meetings with council members that only ended in hostility and circular reasoning. Edicts at school and sent to homes, ignored or torn down. He could understand the villagers' feelings so it was difficult to do anything more, but this was too much for his old age to bear. Looking up at her again, he continued to gently stroke her hair silently.

She seemed confused at his further lack of communication but said nothing.

His old body having grown fatigued from his awkward position, he pulled away and set his hat down nearby, before sitting down with his back against the window. He wondered if it was possible for her to become one but everything in his being refuted the idea. It was an unprecedented and seemingly foolhardy thing to do, but as always it seemed like the only solution— the only answer.

The girl turned to stare at the sky and he joined her in check. Finally, he decided to ask her some questions to weigh the prospect. "Naruko, you could tell it was me walking down the street couldn't you?" he asked curiously, with a sideways look.

Gazing at him and she nodded.

"Can you tell the difference between others as well?"

"Everyone has a different sound, a different scent, a different feeling", she replied evenly.

The man mulled this over in his mind and thought about what she meant. Unlike most people who identified others mainly on appearance, Naruko probably viewed them as a collection of varying sounds, smells, and patterns in their movement. When comparing against an individual who used sight, there were distinct advantages and disadvantages, particularly when taking illusions into account. Whereas someone who relied mainly on visual cues and to a much lesser extent, sound, would be fooled more easily by this art; Naruko would utilize two other traits, not normally taken into consideration by a technique, in how the individual actually moves or the scent they give off. He wondered though how much sharper her senses were in comparison to a normal individual.

The old man already knew she could guide herself around the city, though how she did this exactly, he wasn't entirely sure. After all, their medics could cure most forms of blindness, but Naruko's loss of vision seemed to be unique in some way. He thought about these things for quite some time before making up his mind. "Naruko, can you come to my office tomorrow after you eat?"

"Yes I can."

Satisfied, the old man moved on to their usual exchange, speaking casually, "So what do you want to learn about today?"

The girl was silent for a moment then asked, "Why are the shapes of the buildings in the village so varied and alike?"

As usual, her question was always complex for someone her age, he thought. "That has to do with something called 'architecture'. It's basically a style of design and construction of buildings, though not all the structures in the village are drawn up by the same person, most of them follow a similar pattern when they are erected," the old man explained.

"So different people are creating the buildings based on ideal forms?" she surmised.

He smiled slightly, "That's right." Reaching over, he patted her head approvingly. He really liked how bright she was— it reminded him a lot of himself in his younger days.

After the old man moved his hand away, Naruko continued, "Last time, you said that we get most of the food from outside the village, why is that?"

"Do you remember when I explained to you how our village is mostly urbanized?" he asked in return.

She nodded.

He was positive, she remembered, but this was leading up to his answer, "Due to that, we have little room to grow crops or raise animals ourselves. Therefore we have to rely on outside sources such as farms, processing centers, and fishing companies."

"So we don't cultivate any of our own food?"

"Not directly, though some of the farmers around us are part of the community of the village and we have close ties to them. We provide them with protection and they show favor by supplying some of their goods at reduced cost."

Pausing a moment, she followed up with, "Do we make anything ourselves?"

"We have a small industrial complex with factories where we craft a few things like furniture, various textiles, and practice metallurgy for our implements of warfare."

"What does metal-urge mean?" she asked oddly, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.

He smiled again, saying apologetically, "Sorry, I haven't explained that to you yet have I?"

She shook her head.

They continued on like this for a while, the old man really enjoyed spending his time teaching her about everything. It was really fulfilling passing his knowledge onto others and with her in particular, it eased his mind somewhat knowing he was helping her grow in this way. There were only a small number of people who could actually talk to about many of the things he discussed with her, and even fewer who could understand or were interested in the vast number of subjects he was familiar with. He only wished he had more time to spend with her, but his duties took up most of it.

Finally reaching a sort of conclusion and he said, "I'll see you tomorrow Naruko."

"Good night Ojii-sama," she replied in a tired voice.


	2. Chakra Flow

Waking up the next morning, Naruko sat up slowly and sleepily, her body still burning and aching from the beating she had received yesterday. Her thoughts were distant and vague, she could barely remember the last time anything had really drawn her interest aside from the occasional talks with the old man she was so accustomed to speaking with. She rarely spoke to anyone else, barring the grocers and shopkeepers, with those being only short exchanges for their products.

Getting up from the bed she went through her morning routine – washing herself, drying her hair, donning her white kimono with yellow flower patterns, and brushing her golden locks until they hung straight. It was all done in a slow manner today however, as each action, particularly immersing herself in the hot water, caused a significant amount of pain. Her behavior was very precise and carried an exactingness that went beyond that of ordinary habit. Afterwards, she ate some cereal and milk, then washed everything and left.

It took her about ten minutes to reach the office of the old man she called Ojii-sama. It was early morning and most children weren't even awake yet, so she encountered none along the way. Several villagers did give her cold stares when she passed, as usual however, she did not notice their glares due to her blindness. Still, she could tell that no one had any desire to interact with her, since she was never spoken to by anyone, other than the taunts and jeers from the children when they were around.

It was a lonely and hostile existence that haunted her each and every day. 

Naruko had no family or friends to tell of, and lived in a world bereft of any joy or comfort. All the simple pleasures of life that most people took for granted, were completely unknown to the girl. Walking up to the door, she stared at it blankly, wondering perhaps if something would change today, something that would pull her away from all this…

The old man was surprised to hear a knock at his door so early, and bid the visitor to enter. He was even more surprised to see it was Naruko, but at the same time relieved, that she appeared to not have suffered any further injuries on the way.

She walked in casually with listless steps then stopped right in front of his desk.

Gazing at her, he confirmed once again, that she was able to somehow navigate the town unassisted despite being blind. The last time she had come here was under his guidance and almost one year ago, so the chance she remembered the way through that alone, was very slim. Standing up from his desk he started to walk around it, speaking in a warm tone, "Good morning Naruko".

Turning to his direction, she bowed with her usual indifferent expression, "Good morning, Ojii-sama."

His face softened at this, as he stopped in front of her and knelt down to rub her silky hair, "You did well in getting here by yourself." He praised her with a strained smile.  _ Such a polite child _ , he thought. And yet because of the creature sealed inside her, Naruko's life so far had been nothing short of tragic.

"Thank you Ojii-sama. I came as you asked," she said in a soft feminine voice.

Gathering his red and white robes about him, he placed his knees on the floor then slowly lowered himself into a seiza sitting position on the large carpet. Bidding her to do the same, he collected his thoughts and began, "Naruko, I am going to test you, to see if you can become a ninja."

"They are the ones that protect the village?" she questioned in monotone.

"That's right, Ojii-sama is the head ninja of this village", he explained. "Each of the five biggest ninja villages has one. They are referred to as 'Kage'. Here in Konoha the head ninja is called the 'Hokage'." He put emphasis on each word he felt she would be unfamiliar with.

"So you are the Hokage?"

"That's correct", he replied.

"I would work for you Ojii-sama?" she questioned mildly, giving no indication of interest, but rather confirmation.

"For now... yes, you would only work for me", he said carefully. "But first you need to pass the tests and afterwards, if you accept, I will enter you into our academy."

She sat perfectly still gazing at him with closed eyes, the very image of a doll— a beautiful lifeless existence, which never showed emotion regardless of how it was treated. It hurt him to see her that way, and he couldn't help but feel at least somewhat responsible with how things had turned out. And now he was trying to help her in the best way he could think of, but it was still her decision, he wanted to believe. He knew she understood what he was getting at. While she was under his care, Naruko was always able to quickly learn the meaning of complex words and general concepts like 'work or play', but much to his regret, he was never able to teach her words that expressed emotions or desire such as 'liking or sadness' regardless of how he explained it.

It bothered him, but in some ways it was a perfect state for a ninja, since someone who lacks such things would show no hesitation or remorse during battles, both of which could lead to a quick death. As a ninja of Konoha though, he felt it was essential for her to at least understand them, even if she didn't express herself. There was one other thing that bothered him as well— he could feel no chakra from Naruko at all. This was highly unusual, as even non-ninja's emit chakra at small levels unconsciously.  _ Perhaps this was somewhat tied to her lack of emotions?  _ He wondered, as this wasn't a topic which was greatly researched.

While he thought about this, an idea suddenly came to mind. He could use one of the Hyuga clan members, who were gifted with the Byakugan, mystic eyes that could see the flow of chakra inside the body, to see what the problem is. Looking at the clock on the wall he realized that classes wouldn't begin yet for another hour, so he proceeded with the tests. The ones he focused on were the movement detection and avoidance, since with her being blind this was his greatest concern. Her ability to sense motion turned out to be extraordinary, despite her apparent lack of chakra flow, which was known to increase an individuals' perception to varying degrees.

The avoidance tests yielded very poor results however.  _ Did this have something to do with her abuse? _ It was strange that she did not avoid his various attacking motions, despite her superb detection capability. He decided to leave that alone for the time being. After finishing the rest of the tests, he was very satisfied with her raw ability. He was distressed by this fact though as well, since he realized that she probably could have joined the academy at a lower age. Naruko's absence of sight wasn't as big of a weakness as he thought it would be, believing this was due to his lack of knowledge about truly blind individuals. He made a resolution to address this in the future, as well as make it a point to her future instructors, should she accept. Glancing at the clock again, he saw that it was just about the right time.

"We're going to head to the academy now Naruko. There is something else I want to check before I make my final decision", he said in a wizened voice, as he walked up to her from the location of the last test.

She nodded simply then held her hand out, a habit she had picked up whenever he was taking her somewhere.

He smiled at the familiar gesture and took her hand, and they began to make their way over to the Ninja Academy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruko sat silently and completely still on the bench outside the main office.  _ This is a strange place, it bore the scent of other children like her. _ Though no one was around in the hallway at the moment, she could hear them in the side rooms, along with the voices of several adults' voices speaking of subjects she wasn’t familiar with. She wasn't sure what to do, since the old man had simply asked her to sit and wait for him to return. He had been gone for some time and without a focus her thoughts lingered back to her throbbing aches and burning body.

_ Why did other children do this to her? _ She couldn't understand. Was she different somehow from them? Perhaps her very appearance was offensive to them? She did not know. Could it be she lacked something that Ojii-sama was trying to teach her? She remembered many words he wanted her to learn such as: liking, sadness, hate, love, fear, greed, jealousy, and kindness. But always their meaning escaped her. She was so wrapped up in these thoughts that she didn't even notice a child had stopped in front of her.

The girl was bewildered while staring at Naruko. Her light lavender eyes held wonder as she moved closer.  _ What a beautiful doll _ , she mused, curiously inspecting the sitting figure.  _ It looks so real… but why are it's eyes closed? _

Finally sensing the individual before her, Naruko remained motionless.  _ Was she going to get hit again? _ This child smelled like her and had longer hair, so she figured it was a female. She could tell the girl was reaching out to her and simply waited to be struck as usual.

When the girl touched Naruko's face and she drew her hand back immediately, gasping in surprise, it was soft.  _ Dolls aren't like that! _

It was strange, the girl had simply poked her face, and nothing else. Naruko lifted her gaze ever so slightly towards her.

"Are… are you alive?" the girl asked hesitantly.

Naruko gave a small nod.

"I am sorry. I thought you were a doll. You're so pretty and you weren't moving…" the girl with lavender eyes responded bashfully, drawing closer again.

"Pretty?" Naruko asked blankly.

"Yes! You're very pretty!" the girl exclaimed excitedly, upon hearing her voice. "My name is Hinata. What is yours?"

Staring at the girl strangely, Naruko wondered why she wasn't hitting her. Every other time she had encountered another child, this had always been the case.  _ Hinata was about the same size as her though, unlike most of the others, maybe they were the same age _ ? Unable to determine the distinction, she replied finally,"My name is Naruko."

"How come your eyes are closed Naruko?" the Hinata asked innocently.

"I am blind."

"Blind? What does that mean?" Hinata asked perplexed.

"It means I can't see, so I wouldn't be able to use my eyes even if they were open", Naruko replied indifferently. "Ojii-sama said it's better to keep them closed to protect them."

"Oh…" Hinata replied sadly, then continued in a soft tone, "It must be bad not being able to see…"

"Is it?" Naruko's eyebrows rose faintly, as if in surprise or sudden understanding.

Silence reigned between the two of them after that. Hinata seemed uncomfortable at Naruko's flat tone. Feeling awkward, she sat down nearby on the same bench. Gazing at again, Hinata noticed the discolored skin on the girl’s face and hands. It wasn't as apparent earlier, but with the changed angle and sunlight peeping through the windows above them, it was easy to see now. "Does it hurt?" Hinata asked timidly.

"What are you talking about?" Naruko asked.

"The marks on your face and hands, don't they hurt? I get them too when training sometimes…" Hinata replied curiously.

Unfamiliar with the word ‘training’ Naruko was unsure as to how to respond and stayed quiet in thought.  _ Perhaps the treatment other kids gave her was it? _

"I see you two have already met", spoke an old masculine voice nearby.

They both turned towards the voice. Hinata quickly stood up and bowed when she noticed who it was, becoming nervous in the process. A woman with curly shoulder length black hair and red striking eyes stood next to him. The girl with shorter hair bowed to her as well. The woman, who had a protective mesh under her strange red and white riveted wrapped garb, stared at Naruko with a mixed expression.

"Sorry for taking so long Naruko, we were trying to find Hinata, but it seems she found you instead", he said with a bit of a chuckle.

Naruko stood up slowly next to the other girl as they were addressed, then placed her hands together in front of her.

Hinata brought a fisted hand up to her chin as her gaze shifted between the three of them unsure what to do.

“You remember me right Hinata? Hiruzen Sarutobi, I am the Hokage,” he followed thinking she may have forgotten.

“Oh yes… umm..” she still appeared anxious.

"Don't worry Hinata, you're not in trouble. I just want you to help me with something", he responded. Noticing Naruko's inquisitive stare at the woman next to him, the Hokage introduced her, "This is one of the teachers here at the Academy, Naruko."

"My name is Kurenai Yuhi, it's nice to meet you Naruko", the young woman said with a slight bow.

Naruko bowed in turn. "It's good to meet you as well, Yuhi-sama", she replied in her usual even tone.

_ She seems well-mannered _ , Kurenai thought.  _ Is this the Hokage's influence? _ She had heard he frequently visited the orphanage Naruko was raised at for a time after that tragic event six years ago. But will she really be able to become a ninja? It was unheard of for a blind individual to be one from what she understood. Her eyes shifted to the Hokage, and she put it out of her mind. Who was she after all, to question him of all people?

"Come along now you two, let's go to the nurse's office", the Hokage beckoned as he started making his way over.

Kurenai waited curiously while eyeing the two girls.

Hinata glanced at Naruko's face then her left hand and hesitated.

Naruko's gaze fell upon the girl next to her. She considered just following the old man, but paused when she realized Hinata seemed to be waiting for something.

The girl extended her hand out towards Naruko bashfully.

An unusual feeling came over the blond girl at the simple gesture, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Instead, she merely clasped Hinata's hand in response.

Kurenai was astonished at the sight before her.  _ Was she really blind? _ It truly appeared she could see subtle gestures such as hand movements. And Naruko's actions weren't clumsy at all— her hand was placed directly onto the other girl's, seemingly without effort.

Hinata smiled shyly and guided Naruko along after the Hokage.

That was the first time Kurenai had ever seen the very timid Hinata appear happy. It was a peculiar sight, since most kids and adults alike resented and even hated Naruko, as the demon fox child.  _ Perhaps she herself could be changed? _ It wasn't like she wanted to harbor these thoughts, but the lingering feeling on the back of her mind... The idea that the creature inside this little girl had killed so many people— was ever present. She would be the one teaching Naruko too, if the girl passed this last test and accepted. Seeing that she was left behind, Kurenai gathered her wits and followed after them quickly.

  
  



End file.
